Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Ghostface's new shit.. and the best posse cut evva (unrelated)

Any'a'y'all can stream Ghostface's new release Big Doe Rehab at his def jam page.

I'm streaming it right now and that shit is BANGING bruv. Fuck this shit is total bangabongbong. This is crack, and all that. If you thought he couldn't get harder than he did recently with Fishscale or More Fish. Like daym, be prepared to declare you stand corrected. This'll kill 8 Diagrams prolly, wakuhhukgea.

Yeah I've listened to 8 Diagrams. Still don't know what to think of it. Mixed feelings yo. Forget about it.

Now, all that Tony Starks needs is proper promos and some super commercial success, he deserves it for his consistency and hard work. And ironically he's the one Def Jam emcee not complaining too much about the label's impropah treatment of they artists, instead he keeps his head up and carries on his hustle. Scrilla fahr realla (random hip hopping).


Now, onto a totally different note, I mean dimension.

What is the best posse cut in the world?

This is.

It's Kid Twist of WRC2007 fame and his crew SPC. That's the dopest posse cut I've heard in my life, and yours too. Whukgukea.

Canadians need more love. They invented the hockey puck you know.

No they didn't.

But maybe they did.


Catch a beat down. POAICE!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

New Nas pushed back

Goddamnit. I knew there was going to be a price for Def Jam defending Nasty's choice to name his next album Nigger (yes, I typed it. At least I didn't say in the same vein as Don Imus saying "nappy headed hoes"). The latest news is that Nigger (I said it again; sue me) has been pushed back to next February from the previously-scheduled December release date. At least the new Wu album is coming out as planned (as well, it should, because ... well, wait for the next post) and Ghostface too. At least, I hope those joints are coming out.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Rogue Squadron - Rogue Boys

Definitely gotta plug this aight:
WordsManifest, Jin Hackman, Familyboy, NBE and Illevate representing the Rogue Squadron, over the sick sick beat for Jay-Z's 'Roc Boys', off the American Gangster album.


Tell all your friends. Or we'll kill you.

Go to THE RESISTANCE to feedback propah. Aight.

JumpOff regular season review, yeah the regular season is done and dusted, on to the playoffs

For those following the WRC2007 yawll'll know the regular season is finished. My favourite battlers from each division, and am'a point out key battles and all and all that shit. And wassup with the playoffs, aight.

Houston - None, I don't know, maybe Phranchyze/Zeale32.
I didn't really watch much from this division, I don't know. That's all there is to it. Phranchyze's team went through, they're pretty dope, I wanna see what they can come up with during the playoffs.

Melbourne - Prime/Purpose.
First off I gotta say the Aussie division has been quite a surprise for me, and mosta the WRC viewers. Personally, I didn't like it when Justice won Scribble 2005, I didn't like his voice, his accent, his style (his lines are good though). But this division has proven to me that it's most def just a unique case.

My favourite is most def P&P with Anecdote/360 following closely. Decoy/Chase are pretty okay, and K21/Ilyak got mad potential. But P&P and Anec/360, these two pairs went blazing from start to finish, the only time they got any kind of fight was when they went against themselves.

I'm personally biased towards P&P. I guess I liked their styles better. Purpose has the dopest swagger I've seen on a white bwoy. Prime comes up with some of the most ridiculously funniest punchlines and most of them are off the top, on the spot, which makes them even funnier.

Meanwhile, Anecdote is one of those multi-syllabic emcees which is a style that can get annoying. But he's good at it, and he doesn't sound mad queer. Prolly cause he's quite an experienced cat in the OZ battle scene. Some people might say 360 is the weaker half but I think he brings a different dimension to the team with his fucked up sense of humour.

The best way to describe these two pairs for me is that they are Australia's very own Freestyle Masons (Stig/Respek BA and Whas'his'face/Possessed) (UK).

I'd say a good way to enjoy the Melbourne division is to watch all battles involving them two teams. But the best way is of course, to just watch both of their battles. FYI shit got so mad close between the two pairs they had to decide through one thing which was P&P had to go to punchlines round to defeat Anec/360 while Anec/350 defeated them in the first overtime, so Anec's team gets the pass to playoffs. Dissapointment for me being a fan of P&P but still, a dope pair went through, no real complaints.

They 1st battle.

They 2nd battle.

Atlanta - Uhh, dunno, Drect/Hemisphere maybe.
Like Houston, this didn't get the fair share of my attention. I preferred Mad Illz/Parable from last season's. They got mad annoying for some reason this time around. Drect/Hemisphere had dope swaggers and hilarious wtf-don't-give-a-fuck-am'a-just-say-it-however-i-wanna-fuck-it whatever typa lines. But predictably, the former pair went through.

London - G-Dash/King Jordz
Probably the most energetic and intense division. Wasn't expecting much from this division but the weaker teams from last season stepped it up in the absence of the infamous Freestyle Masons. Ark/Eurgh got through, not my favourite pair especially Ark with his screaming Possessed-wannabe style. But he got some nice lines though, him and Eurgh probably had the most flips, that's commendable.

Dash and Jordz though, daym. They really stepped it up. Dash and his cuntish persona is entertainment. Jordz is the King though, he's cult. He's got mad swag, and he's the most composed dude in the whole division, seems nuthing could deter him. And the funniest was whenever he made a pop culture reference. HADOUUUKEN!

Shoutout to Kulez and his partner. He stepped it up as well.

The most intense battle would have to be the first battle reuniting Ark and Kulez who were former partners last season. Shit got really personal and shit. The most important battle is the last one involving Ark's team and Dash/Jordz, as it determined who would go through. Shit went to the wire. I personally preferred Dash/Jordz to go through but Ark's team deserved it seeing as how consistent they came throughout the whole thing.

Ark and Kulez intense head-to-head reunion.

The grand finale battle, on some street fighter shit.

New York - Tie between Critical/Madness and Piff James/Hommy Hom
Definitely. I didn't like the division's winners one bit. I don't know. They can come up with some good lines but they whole style bar the wiseguy accent is pretty unbearable.

Critical/Madness came with their gay jokes galore and the funniest deliveries. Piff James/Hommy Hom only picked shit up by the second half of battles. Hom especially was blazing mostly near the end, kinda got his mojo back.

Well honestly although both pairs were my favs, they weren't too consistent. Still, I would've preferred either team to go through to the playoffs.

Detroit - OBVIOUSLY Quest Mcody/Marvwon
No doubt. I've said enough about them. A totally different style from most of the other battlaz. Detroit honestly was the most laidback division. Seems like everyone knew each otha and was just having fun making fun of each otha (even Elfamail and Moodswangz who came from Chicago seemed like part of the family). Shoutouts to Mr Cliff Note/Hostyle for the funny delivery and lines. And Moodswangz's team, they weren't too bad. You can see Swann in the background and sometimes hear his distinctive fucked up laugh too. Why the fuck didn't he enter though.

Best way to go through this division is to watch all Quest/Marv battles. Even towards the end when they were all tired and not even trying, they were hella funny as hell. Dildo flute, tidididututulgtyyududu.

Their funniest battle, the 1st one against Quest's cousin and some otha dude.

Their closest battle, their only battle that went to overtime, the 1st one against Elfamail/Moodswangz.

Los Angeles - Dumbfoundead/Sahtyre
Prolly the hardest division to pick out a favourite. Nearly everyone came with dopeness. Shoutouts to NoCanDo/Rheteric, Thesaurus/Illmac, Lush One/Flo. But honestly Dumb and Saht had the dopest chemistry and funniest style with the spontaneous freestyling/dissing.

Saht has this funny thing he does when after everytime he disses his opponent he would look at them up and down like he's sizing them up. Dumb I figured usually comes up with his lines while his partner is spitting, delivers it, blaow! funny shit, and then tops it off with the funniest freestyle filler in the world - "Gottdtayym". They both have the funniest postures and hand movements when battling, especially Saht with his slightly bending down stance. Whugkeakuga.

Can't front on this division. You gotta check out most of the battles. This is the division that had the most skills. That's why I would agree to anyone saying there should be a separate Bay and LA divisions. It's fucked up having to choose between Bay and Project Blowed cats and only send one pair from either group of emcees.

The other emcees not mentioned yet, good battlers too but more geared towards freestyle than punchlines. Lyraflip/Verbs, and Franco/Element. But there's one funny part in the after-battle interviews where Franco had a bitchfight with Element. Whaukuekga. Fucked up.

And NoCanDo is one of the best freestylers in this world ever, no doubt.

My favourite battle involving Dumbfoundead/Sahtyre

Toronto - Poorich/Kid Twist
No doubt. One of the most bogus divisions in terms of judging. But this pair finally made it and deserved it no doubt. Odd couple, Poorich with a wigga swag and Kid Twist with his nerdy swag. But it worked.

Kid Twist especially, comes up with the funniest lines. And despite his unapologetic nerd swag, he's pretty much gangsta. Just look at it this way, who has the most composure in the battles, he does. Nothing seems to sway him, he's cool as fuck. Best part was when he goes "he likes my girl so much he went with the chubby version" to Organik. After that Organik got really hyped up being mean and all that referencing Twist's girl but dude is mad chill, like whateva, I threw sand in your pussay already, no matter how much you scream back, you lost. Haha.

Props to Organik and his partner Knamelis though, they were not bad. Knamelis especially was involved in one of the best battles in the tourney. Having to battle Bishop/Stretch Diesel (whose dicks have been rode by the judges throughout) alone as Organik had too many fouls. He dissed the judges, dissed the host (they seem to have beef), and still won.

For this division, all the battles involving Poorich/Kid Twist are dope. Oh and I hate Aspire/Prolific. Hahakhga.

Best Lookback Shows
The lookback shows are a good feature. Everyone seems to be bitching about the host Nemiss. I don't see anything wrong with her. For a female, she's pretty good. Fucking nerds complaining about everything, as if they get Bollywood chicks climbing up they dicks every night, faggits.

The earlier lookback shows were pretty allright. Then it got to the high profile asshole guests namely Joe Budden, Serious Jones and Immortal Technique.

Then it got to the surprise guests. Like I didn't expect someone old school like Craig G to be on it (along with Mazzi, one of the best hosts). It was one of the best shows.

The one with Rhymefest and Termanology was dope as well. Just skip Rhymefest's weird rant about white boys being better than black boys. He's a well respected battle emcee (and also didn't do too bad on the commercial scene) and it's dope to see him commending the battles. At one point he dissed Smack DVD battles, saying that ain't the future of battling, this is. Which is true, from a neutral point of view, I'd rather watch random nerds and some streeter cats come up with dope punchlines than supposedly street cats read their verse about guns and coke aloud. I have my Ghostface and Clipse for that so fuck yawll. Yawll'll probably get served by Iron Solomon any day, anyway. He's got the best writtens hands down. Too much ranting there haha.

Rhymefest was funny in an odd awkward way though. Wahukgeaukga. Seriously.

Erm gotta say the lookback shows got better in the second half of the season for sho'. The one with the D.O.E. and that white dude was not bad too. They both had some good things to say. They both seemed like real fans of the battles.

And not forgetting the last show for the regular season I suppose. Which was done nicely. They drew the playoff match-ups live here too. I gotta embed this cause it's pretty important:

I hope they have a full season lookback, that'd be pretty dope. Props to JumpOff for getting quality guests regardless of whether they were cuntish or not.

Shoutouts to Okwerdz for being the most hated hater too. He's dope.

Best Host and Hostesses
The host that had the most control had to be the original, Scarrs of UK. The loudest gotta be Detroit. The most cuntish is that Toronto one that got dissed by Knamelis. LA host was dope also, he was the most responsive to funny lines, heard he's a blowed emcee so makes sense. Anotha JumpOff old boy Mazzi was Mazzi as usual. I don't know, maybe the Houston host was the best. I mean despite that division being the worst, he was pretty upbeat, and interacted with the battlers and everything else pretty well.

Hostesses, I have a soft spot for Miss Erica of Detroit. Despite her sagging tits. Well I'm not sure she's all that though, cause I can't see her face clearly from the camera.

Muh previews for the playoff
So now I understand the format, it's typical World Cup format. Here are the matchups which will be done in December 1st:

Illmac/Thesaurus vs Poorich/Kid Twist - it's gonna be interesting to watch. Although honestly, I agree with Critical in the lookback shows, Illmac's got something up his sleeve. Him and in some instances, Saurus as well, didn't seem to wanna reveal too much of their beastiness in the regular season. They might end up being too strong for the Canadian team, but I dunno, we'll see. Nemiss say this battle'll be footaged in December 5th.

Quest Mcody/Marvwon vs Madd Illz/Parable - the most interesting to look forward too. Two totally different battle styles. I wanna see Detroit go through but I dunno, their style might be too foreign for the general battle crowd.

Anecdote/360 vs Frankie Wapps/Jaze Juce - I do wanna see Anec serve both these yonkers since he does their style better, but I dunno, hard to predict as well.

Ark/Eurgh vs Pharnchyze/Zeale32 - least look forwarded to battle but I still wanna see how Phranchyze and his partner will cope with real competition.

Enjoy them battlez, folks.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Cam'ron is still alive dogg, public enemy number 1, whoody-whoo

There's been rumours of chaos in the DIP SET DIP SET DIP SET DIP SET camp, mostly heartbreaking. But fuck it right, Cam'ron started all this shit, he showcased dem boys on catchy beats in the first place. He's the essence of Dipset. Well, prolly mixed with a little bit of Freeky Zeeky's fucked up sense of humour.

He's my favourite pop rapper, sure he rhymes about all the usual modern hip hop hoohaa but the way he does it is almost satire (definitely cult though) - over the top multisyllabized rhyme schemes, made up words or sounds, serious swagger even when delivering something ridiculously retarded, and misogny the size of Snoop Doggy Dogg's balls in his Doggystyle days. It's like he's just fucking around and making the most of the opportunity to talk nonsense since it's pop hip hop

Him and Dipset shined most in his Come Home With Me album, it's my personal favourite at least. It's all about having the right beats. I guess back then he had the luxury of Roc producers. The Just Blaze banging catchy hype typa shit mixed with a little smoothness here and there works just well for Killa and his dope voice to swag on. Man fuck it, Just Blaze and Kanye West should give Cam special discounts, forget the rest, Kanye should stop rapping and concentrate on showing some instrumental love for the Dip leader while Just Blaze should put the ron before the gon (Saigon haha). I'm fucking sick and tired of listening to Cam'ron rhymin' on over-generic beats with over-enthusiastic hi-hats.

Recently he released this double disc mixtape entitled Public Enemy Number 1 which had an abundance of those typa shit, low budget beats and all that. Fuck that, there are a few gems though, three songs in particular that am'a be pluggin' which I really like cause he's rapping on some smooth shit and good shit.

First off is this song BAD DAY (feat. Tom Gist, who? Prolly new Dipset blood), where he flipped Ice Cube's it was a good day's concept using that particular track's instrumental as well. Although Cube's original is that real piff, the beat is one of the best ever in the history of hip hop.

The other one is I'M A HUSTLER BARRY, in which he rhymed on Barry White's love's theme. It's sweet as fuck.

The other other one is this track NO DELAYING. I'm not sure who's beat this originally is but listening to Cam spit on an old school drumbeat is pretty refreshing. We all love that old school loop. Fuck clap snares and annoying hi-hats.

As a bonus, the shitty skit from the mixtape.

Okay, now we forget all that, let's go back, not so way back though, this was back when Ja Rule was what 50 Cent is now. If you've never checked out Cam'ron before, start with this one aight. This was before he started using annoying beats and way before Dipset blew up proper (cause this is where he started plugging his Dipset homies on a large scale hence sharing the limelight with them). Some of my favourite tracks from this album are oh boy, daydreaming, hey ma, on fire (whaukhukgea funny ass track, best topical evva), stop calling, and tomorrow.

Come Home With Me (2002)
  1. Intro
  2. Losing Weight Part 2 feat. Juelz Santana
  3. Oh Boy
  4. Live My Life (Leave Me Alone) feat, Daz
  5. Daydreaming feat. Tiffany
  6. Come Home With Me feat. Juelz Santana & Jim Jones
  7. Welcome To New York City feat. Jay-Z & Juelz Santana
  8. Hey Ma feat. Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey & Kay Slay
  9. On Fire Tonight feat. Freekey Zekey
  10. Stop Calling feat. Mcgruff & Freekey Zekey
  11. I just Wanna feat. Juelz Santana
  12. The ROC (Just Fire) feat. Jim Jones
  13. Dead Or Alive feat. Jim Jones
  14. Boy Boy feat. Memphis Bleek & Beanie Sigel
  15. Tomorrow

Shit I'm feeling quite bonussy today. On some FLASHBACK tip, here's a bootleg I found of Children of the Corn. I'm still tryna download a proper album from them though, watch out for updates.

Children of the Corn - Harlem's Finest bootleg (1993).
  1. Intro
  2. American Dream
  3. Harlem USA (freestyle)
  4. Studio Freestyle
  5. Freestyle
  6. Uptown Connection

Who're Children of Corn though? You might ask. They're A supergroup (considering the reputation of some of the emcees now) founded by Big L involving Murda Mase (Mase), Killa Cam (Cam'ron), McGruff and Bloodshed. Dope as fuck. Imagine if they're still around, daym, Big L and Killa especially, they were killin' it, fuck it even Mase was pretty good back then. Sadly Bloodshed and Big L passed away. More info here.

That's that for now. I don't know what's the situation with Jim Judas Jones and Juelz Santana. I just watched Juelz going on an interview talking about loyalty, what? I'm not sure what he was mumblin', I don't know, I don't know the real situation, Cam hasn't been replyin' his gmail, am'a try the fax later. Fuck that shit. By the way, still on the Dip note, I checked Hell Rell's album. I thought it sucked ass, so whatever, no plug for you. Oh yeah before I go, yeah, fuck you fiddy cent. You suck ass, Kanye won over yo' ass, stop whining. You got beat by a tight panted metro homo. Wgheukahga.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

This is a long MEGA COMBO post - Marley Marl, Craig G, WRC, and some battle rapper music

Marley Marl. I hardly knew who he was back then although he influenced dam nearly every beat conductah walking the earth identified as my own influences. But never too late, some time ago, an interview with The Rza, a name was dropped, and I was schooled. He founded the legendary Juice Crew, and trust my flabby gut their spirit is still alive what with recent releases from himself (that hip hop lives shit with KRS), Masta Ace, and that upcoming Kool G Rap shit. And I just have to mention just now, me in my small ass cavey room watching what new jacks watch - WRC, and dropping my jaw when Craig fucking G was a guest in the Lookback Show, faacken 'ell (we'll get back to this later in this entry).

To noobs like yours truly only: what I have for you is this release which is the first compilation of his produced hits - In Control Vol. 1. Why? cause I know just like me most of yawll're prolly highly unfamiliar with his shit most especially the old ones. This is OG shit doggy, he pioneered that hard hitting sample flipping shit that we all love so frickking much, and with the arsenal of emcees he was working with - seriously? Kane? Biz Markie? Craig G? Tragedy Khadafi? Kool G Rap? Masta Ace? Heavy D? who else do you want, need, bitch?

But I know words won't convince much, especially with my feeble linguistic skills, so get on these two videos off the compilation. If you figadeel it, link is down there, proper.

Juice Crew - the symphony

Roxanne Shante - wack it

Marley Marl - In Control Vol. 1, geddit from Zshare or MegaUpload
  1. Marley Marl - Droppin' Science - Craig G. (5:00)
  2. Marley Marl - We Write The Songs (Feat. Heavy D.) - Biz Markie
  3. Marley Marl - The Rebel - Tragedy Khadafi
  4. Marley Marl - Keep Your Eye On The Prize - Masta Ace
  5. Marley Marl - The Symphony (Feat. Master Ace, Craig G., Kool G. Rap and Biz Markie
  6. Marley Marl - Live Motivator - Tragedy Khadafi
  7. Marley Marl - Duck Alert - Craig G.
  8. Marley Marl - Simon Says - Masta Ace
  9. Marley Marl - Freedom - MC Shan
  10. Marley Marl - Wack It - Roxanne Shante

Now, on to fucking CRAIG G being in WRC 2007's Lookback Show Week 7, when he was announced I was like "whaa? the real Craig G? dayum". And no I'm not an old schooler I'm a noob I got into hip hop very late but I constantly do muh homework (my teachers back in school wished they were teaching hip hop) and I know who he is, he's a fucking legend.

Before we get a little more into that a bitta background about some shit that has pissed me off about WRC's lookback shows - delusional arrogant cunt guest emcees. Yes, guilty parties included - Joe Buddens, Serious Jones, and Immortal Technique. Tech pissed me off the most as I had mad respect for him and his music, but he's delusional, he's no OG, he acted like he above erything. Piss off, mate. He keeps dismissing the battles he's supposed to review (which is very disrespectful since he was dismissing some dope emcees) and going "back in those days" "back in my days" bla bla acting like he the baddest when we all know he was not bad but awfully painful when it comes to riding beats in battles - AND he lost to fucking Postaboy in freestyle friday acting like he didn't just overtake the beat and smoked that bitch a dozen lamp-posts. Cunt.

This is where we get back to Craig G. The irony is, when Craig the OG the fucking legend the fucking dude who beat Supernatural was talking, he was totally respectful of the battles and battlers, modest with his opinions, and just simply on point. Despite this being a new battle scene and him having way more rep & experience than anyone including the cunt guests combined, he was very very cool. The only time he ever went on a flashback was when the host asked him a question about the difference between now and then, even so he was pretty cool about it, only noted that there's too much screaming nowadays (which I hate myself sometimes) when he's more into wit and humour, but acknowledged there's a lot of very good dudes. Unlike Tech who kept making me phuke last night's dinner which I didn't digest properly with his ooh-i'm-so-og-i'm-so-hard-and-shit back-in-those-days-we-battled-better stfu, you look like a member of Nu Heaven with your shaved 'stache. Ok calm down hqa, fuck I'll still respect these cats for their music, but in terms of character, fuck y'all.

I was also pretty shocked when Craig G was totally feeling Kid Twist, declaring dude as his favourite emcee of the day. If you don't know who Kid Twist is, he's who Weird AL was inspired by when "white and nerdy" was conjured + combined with the ability to deliver funny punchlines. Yeah he's nerdy, so fucking what, Tech woulda totally dismissed but who gives a fuck now when Craig gave props based on proper battling basics - wit and punchlines. Anotha detail was while Joe Buddens enthusiastically like a bimbo told Hom and Piff to quit when he was on, Craig instead was totally spotting Hom's dope delivery analyzing how it made the punches more effective thus confirming us Hommy Hom fans' belief all this while that his swagger is unfuckwittable. Okay Maybe Hom and Piff did have a bad day on Buddens' week he coulda at least been more respectable.

Well I guess this is a lesson that all us hip hoppaz old or new must take to heart, don't be a cunt. Oh yeah this is that lookback show with Craig G, the best so far IMHO:

Lastly, on to more noobily shit. Some battle rapper music that I been digging and wanting to plug recently.

First on the list is a flashback from last year, Mr. Swagga Hommy Hom himself who I name dropped earlier if you read that stupid emotional rant whaukhukgea, I don't know what beat he rhymed this on but the beat is banging and his flow & rhythm is just chun. The song is HALLWAY. I'm lucky I saved some of his songs from Myspace before our local connection got fucked up and we ova hear can't listen to Myspace music anymore.

Second is Nocando, Project Blowed rep a.k.a. Blowdian, no stranger to various battle circuits, Recent Scribble Jam winner and WRC 2007 participant, overall dope freestyler. Listening to him freestyle, fuck he would come up with lines incorporating complex rhyme schemes and concepts you couldn't come up with in writtens. And listening to him freestyle flow on a beat, you know unlike many other freestylers that he could come most deffily sick on wax.

So I have checked out a lot of his stuff, hits and misses depending on how dope the beat is. Two of muh favourites:

Nocando - deep sea divers
Beat is hypnotic. Nocando's spitting is sick, and very catchy hook.

Customer Service (his crew) feat. Okwerdz & Dirtbag Dan - no fly zone
Hype double time beat, dope double time flows, Okwerdz, another infamous battler who onced tag-teamed with Nocando for a comp came nice as well. Overall hype track.

Third and last for now on is an OZ duo named Forthwrite. One half of them is 360 who's competing in WRC 2007. The duo is funny as fuck on this track we are the best with the minimalistic stripped-down funky beat complementing them very well, and the chorus is infectious, contagious, groovitatious WE ARE THE BEST TWO FUCKHEADS YOU KNOW WE ARE THE BEST TWO FUCKHEADS, we're the best, we're the best. Also featuring Okweezy who I thought was quite annoying in this one.

Ya bwoy hqa signin' off for now, for sheezy ma meezy, indeezy, and chigeezies. Paice.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

mahzel tov, it's a celebration bitches

The thing that makes me say I'm not a titty-popping Jay-Z fan is that for every album he comes out with, there's rarely more than two tracks I'm feeling. The Black Album was the last one to do this to me; "99 Problems", "Lucifer" and "Threat" were hot, but nothing else. Kingdom Come had nada, which i suppose balanced things out. This fact also makes it undeniable that I regard Jay as one of the GOATs, as much as I hate his swagger and highly unNas-like ability to make this hip hop shit look easy. To hit even the most hardened nay-sayer (and I can't even lay claim to that title, although I come pretty damn close) with a favourite track almost every album is something Lil' Wayne needs to start doing. Hell, Fabolous jacked Hov's style years before Weezy did, and he still can't come close to coming out with an album that has at least one song for every possible facet of hip hop listenerdom.

Enter "Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)". Just look at me: I detest the man for his cockiness and I love the song that glorifies it. I don't know if American Gangster: The Album is a true concept album or not, but I'm trying to enjoy a standalone song, so fuck it. Exaggerated though it might be, Jay's account of his crack dealing heyday is, pardon the pun, intoxicating: an unapologetic tale of forbidden success in an environment where so many good things are forbidden, 'illegal' was easily misinterpreted as 'for whitey only'. And to think The Hitmen produced this. Damn you, Diddy. Are the horns cheesy? Sure, but they beat cheesy synths any day. And Jay rhymes better than he has in a while - he's on point, he's funny, he flows flawlessly, and he engages your attention span throughout the song. It is, indeed, a celebration, bitches.

Here's the video:

p.s.: I just realized i stopped linking albums up in here, which might cause you some dismay. I'm going to start back on that ... as soon as I find some albums worth my upload time.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Fiascogate: The Motion Picture

Not really. Lupe's been getting a lot of flak lately for a broad spectrum of WTF-worthy reasons, from fucking classic Tribe lyrics the fuck up and turning all of Okayplayer (and Phonte) against his ass, to allegedly succumbing to the time-honoured hip hop traditional rite of the Smackahoe. But lest we all forget, we wouldn't be paying him and his tomfoolery all that much attention if he wasn't an emcee to be reckoned with, and The Cool, set to be available for free download (hurhur) from December 18th onwards, should be the litmus test for Robotboy. Can he last? Or will he run back to West Side Chitown? Phonte don't care.

"Superstar" features Matthew Santos (signed to Atlantic, but ... who? Anyone? Please?) and is aaaaaite, but not so much. The content seems like a continuation of the much better "Daydreamin'", and Lupe continues to showcase his thematic skills. If there's one thing this guy can do (albeit boringly sometimes) it's weave concept tracks. I like how Hype Williams changed up his style somewhat. The flashing bulbs are still there, but at least they're not lined up in in rows of 75 behind the emcee. And no split horizontal bars either.

American Gangster. Fuck what ya heard.

Yo man, I done told you.

American Gangster: The Motion Picture opened to a first weekend gross of 46.3 million bucks. (That's roughly the same amount Frank Lucas used to make over a weekend selling smack.) Biggest ever opening take for a crime movie, ever. Denzel Washington is the fucking man. Russell Crowe put in work too. The RZA was completely in character. Common? TI? eeeeeh not so much. Armand Assante. Cuba Gooding Jr. That Chinese guy who tried to kill Indiana Jones in Shanghai. And Ridley Scott, whose directing for this one now puts him at "12 more classic movies to go before the world forgives you for Legend".

Say what? American Gangster: The Album? Oh word? Really?

Never heard of it.

Check out Pete Rosenberg reporting on the AG premier in Noo Jawk. (Special peep ma gurl Angela at 3:06. Thank you for existing, baby.) And Hebrew gibberish!

Sunday, November 04, 2007

the times, they are a-changin'

Just goes to show that even when he's not on the label anymore, Sony knows not to fuck with Nas. This is a great retrospective video, with stock footage from Illmatic videos til his departure.

Also, a less than stellar point in Esco's life, but still noteworthy: The Firm live.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Respek BA, Rain Check, Pagen Elypsis

First off, if you watch footie and enjoy listening to the token Scottish pundit-half of the commentators, and you wish he rapped .. and all that, well here's mister Respek BA, he's no commentator but he raps and all that. one'a muh favourite emcees that I got to know through Jumpoff.TV street battles and was also a dope ass competitor in WRC2006. Battle emcees hardly make good music but I'm diggin' BA. This track I'm linkin' is from Illmaculate's Rain Check mixtape, entitled "blazin'". The beat is annoying as fuck but his raps is dope, the flow, the lyrics and shit, the swag, he's got lines, and the fucking Sco''ish accent, don't fuck with that. He's got more tracks up on his myspace but since we live in this country we can't hear it but last year I managed to listen to a few and they're very sick since he's rhymin' on mostly jazzy beats that are dope as shit and shit. Whatever. About the Illmaculate mixtape, most links are deaded prolly cause it's on sale, but it's dope, so find it yourself. For now >>BLAZE THIZ BA SHIT<< doggy.

Also here's Respek BA and his mate Loki spittin' in blatant Scottish dialect:

On to the ozzies now. Pagen Elypsis is an Australian crew prime and purpose (dope battle emcees, partners in WRC2007, Purpose was in Scribble Jam 2006) are a part of. They linked their mixtape on Megaupload*, >>DOWNLOAD Pagen Elypsis MIXTAPE<< It's pretty dope actually, hardcore spittage from the whole crew, mostly on known instrumentals. If you're curious as to how dope Australians can get check this out cause honestly I've checked out some other more marketed Ozzie hip hop before this (even went to a live show when onna them visited KL) and wasn't too hooked. This shit is pretty fire though. And I'm out.

*Yeah I know downloading from Megaupload is a bitch and I've tried several bypassing ways but this one seems to work perfectly for now - use fireforx, download and install this addon. Now on your tools there will be a Megaupload SX 4.3 - enable it whenever u wanna download from Megaupload.